1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to projectors and systems for projecting light upon projector screens and surfaces, and, more particularly, to systems, devices, and methods for projecting light onto a display surface to provide patterns of diffracted light (e.g., diffracted light in select or programmable locations) on a display or projection surface and/or to provide diffracted light with changing locations or patterns so as to animate the projected light to create desirable lighting effects.
2. Relevant Background
There are many settings where it is desirable to provide unique lighting and visual effects. For example, many theme and amusement parks include special lighting to make a ride or show more visually exciting for participants. The lighting along a ride may be used to set a mood or theme of the ride by lowering or raising light levels. Additionally, flashing lights or moving light streams may be used to surprise people on a ride or watching a show or to draw their attention to a particular location. In other settings, lighting and visual displays are used to simulate stars of the night sky or to create a unique atmosphere for a party such as with randomly moving lights as part of a music concert or in a nightclub or similar setting to enhance a dance floor.
Entertainment and event lighting has often been provided through the use of lasers. A laser may be provided in a projector along with optical elements to create a constant or a randomly changing or random display of thousands of pin points of light by having the optical elements stationary or moving within the projector. Such a light show creates a universe of twinkling stars that may be useful in illuminating theaters, discos, nightclubs, and the like and even have residential applications such as for a child's night light. In many settings, holographic effects are used to create smears or layers of light with a projector. Such projections may be used to provide sparkling lights that appear similar to twinkling stars, provide a smearing between pin point lights, and even rainbows. However, these projectors typically are only useful for projecting what appears to be a random lighting display (but that actually repeats with each rotation of a disk) as a particular or single diffraction grating is rotated or moved in front of the light source or to provide a constant effect when a stationary diffraction hologram element or similar optical lens component is placed in front of the light source.
While such projectors are useful in creating interesting displays and effects, there are many applications where it is desirable to provide lighting effects that can be accurately controlled to create a particular pattern or to animate a scene or display. For example, it may be useful to provide a streak of light behind a moving object such as a star, a jet, a fairy, or the like (a three dimensional (3D) object) or a projected video image that is moved across a wall in a theatre or near an amusement park ride car. In one particular instance, an interactive setting may be provided in which garners are able to control movement of a game piece, and it is desirable to project a lighting effect in the wake of the moving game piece. In another setting, it is desirable to project fairy dust or magical clouds of light on a display surface such as a projection screen or a 3D set in programmable patterns and/or in responsive patterns that animate the scene, e.g., to shoot a magical spray of light from a wand.
In such applications, video projectors may be used to provide the desired effects. However, video projectors that are bright enough to create an adequate look or effect (e.g., a desired amount of sparkle or the like) are typically relatively expensive and/or may require relamping to achieve the desired results. Additionally, such video projectors typically are large such that the setting must provide sufficient space for mounting the projector along with the infrastructure to support and run/control the video projector, which is not the case in many entertainment or other lighting applications. Additionally, video projectors typically project light onto a large surface rather than a small pin point or subset of the overall projection area which creates video black issues (e.g., even “dark” areas are undesirably lighted some amount by the video projector) that may ruin or reduce the desired special effect. Additionally, the quality of light may not be as punchy or specular as desired to provide or achieve certain effects such as sparkling stars or points of light which may be achieved better with lasers or the like.